After returning from
our last free weekend we had our final week in Bonn. Tuesday we
returned to Cologne for our guided tour through the Zoo. Our guides
were two zoo employees, one of which has done extensive training with
elephants and monkeys. They look us through the zoo making stops by
animals that were of particular interest for us as pre-med and
pre-vet students. Even though I have been to plenty of zoos before, this one was different. They have some unusual animals that we would
not see at a zoo in the USA, like raccoons and a large variety of
birds. Also, we got to learn about behind the scenes information on
how to maintain a healthy and safe environment for the animals. The
guide could give more detailed and sensitive information with us
about the animals lifestyles than she could not with the average group that would come to the zoo.
One example is of the hierarchy with in the animal groups. When a
new male enters the group and becomes the alpha it is natural for them to
hurt or even kill the babies of other males to establish their
dominance. This is a natural process that might make most people outraged that the zoo did not stop the animals from hurting each
other. However, they do not interfere because it is important to make
the habitat as much like being in the wild as possible. One of the
lasting memories I will always remember is when we entered the area
with the Bonobo Aps. The zoo keepers warned us that they may get a
little rowdy because they used to train and be in close contact with two
of the older aps in the habitat. They had been working there when two of the aps, Bonnie and Clyde, entered the zoo and bottle fed them
back when there were not as many stringent rules about animal and
zookeeper contact. Still to this day, both aps recognized our guides
and even blew kisses to one of them while holding her hand on the
glass where they were standing outside the enclosure. It was touching and very shocking to see how
easily they recognized them after all these years. The best part came
when we got to the new elephant house they recently built. We met the
director zoo keeper of the elephant house and saw where their ‘command center' was. From here they can watch both indoor and outdoor areas of the elephant
habitat. I have never seen so many elephants in one zoo before! They
said they usually have 12 to 14 elephants there at a time but the
facility was designed to hold more. The problem comes when you
consider the holding areas they use to interact with the elephants.
The zookeeper took us in and around the indoor area of the elephant
house while the elephants were outside during the day. He showed us
the holding area where they can clean the elephants, have the vet
examine them or give them shots. All of their interaction with the
animals is protected contact unlike in years previous to now. We were
all allowed to feed the elephants small slices of bread through the
bars dividing the indoor and outdoor areas. Once one came over it
wasn’t long before they were all there waiting to be fed. I held
out my hand and the baby elephant grasped the bread with its trunk
and then put it in its mouth. Even the baby’s trunk was
unbelievably strong. You can feel the sheer muscle power and it was
amazing.
Berlin! All of us were
anticipating the fast paced and enormously historical city of Berlin
to end our trip. I could consider New York to be most similar to
Berlin in the sense that it is very big, very diverse and the general
attitude there is radically different. As we experienced within an
hour of being in Berlin, the locals can be harsh without meaning to
be. Dr. Wasser explained it as a “Berlin Schnauze”. As we were
all trying to enter the regional train to our hotel we were having
troubles fitting and an older man was getting mad at us for holding
up the train and shouting criticisms in German.
Our first activity was
to tour the city on bikes with our enthusiastic guide from Wales. He
got a good feel for the city and introduction to the museums and
historical sites representing the rich history there. The history
there is simply unparalleled. We visited Hitler’s bunker where we
lived for the last several months of his life and where he and his
new wife committed suicide shortly after the Soviet Invasion. We also
stopped by the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie.
The following day we
visited the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. The trip was both
extremely interesting and educational but I also felt like I couldn’t
leave that place without feeling like it took an emotional toll as
well, learning about the unspeakable terrors and genocide that took
place there. Never the less, I firmly believe that everyone should
learn about this so as to ensure such things are never repeated.
Rather than bury the past and pretend that these evil things never
happened we must remember and reflect on these historical events.
Our final day on the
program we went to the Charite Learning Center. We had two medical
students tell us more about medical schools in Berlin and Germany
overall. They provided a small taste of what their learning center is
like for the students. It was created so that students of the
original class-based medical curriculum could learn practical skills
they will be expected to know when they enter the medical field as doctors. We
got to use their dummies to learn how to do intubation and suturing.
They also provided a dummy that resembles certain cardiac and
pulmonary disorder to test the students. They students were very nice
and talkative and happy to help us get a taste of what their learning
tutorials are like.
Lastly, we had our guided tour of the Charite Museum, our last lecture on Virchow and
our oral exams. It was a wonderful way to end the program and
exemplified all we have come to learn and appreciate about medicine
in this global perspective.
Although my travels in Germany have come to an end, I have been traveling around Greece since the conclusion of the program with my family and my international experieces will continue in Italy and France before I return home to Texas.
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